KAN-US Official: Concerns On Rafah Op Not Yet Fully Addressed

Israel's KAN reportingcomments from an unnamed senior US official regarding Israel's nascent ground operation in the city of Rafah, and reports that Washington has paused the transfer of sizeable ordnance to Israel due to the lack of a comprehensive plan to avoid mass civilian casualties. US official: "Discussions with Israel on the humanitarian and operational issues in Rafah continue and our concerns were not fully addressed. When we saw that Israeli leaders were approaching a decision point regarding such an operation, we began to carefully examine proposed transfers of certain weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah."

• WaPo reported on the pause in shipments on the evening of 7 May, with an unnamed US official saying the move comes as "a “shot across the bow” intended to underscore to Israeli leaders the seriousness of U.S. concerns about the offensive in Rafah,"
• Saudi media also reporting that at his upcoming meeting with CIA Director William Burns, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will inform Burns that Israel 'rejects the broad outlines of the [ceasefire] agreement submitted by Hamas'.
• The situation remains delicately poised. With the IDF seemingly on the verge of a full-scale ground operation in Rafah, the urgency at reaching a ceasefire deal rapidly will be apparent for mediators in the US, Qatar, and Egypt. If an agreement cannot be reached in the coming days, it may prove impossible for a ceasefire to come into effect before a surge in fighting between the IDF and Hamas in and around Rafah.